John Carpenter is best known for bringing Michael Myers to the big screen and reinvigorating slasher films with Halloween. However, since then, he's made leaps and bounds in terms of creating various films that cover multiple genres. Some examples include The Thing and They Live, which redefined science-fiction while maintaining a basis in horror. That said, he's also ventured into action with films like Assault on Precinct 13 and Escape from New York. But Big Trouble in Little China proved Carpenter can direct any genre if he put his mind to it.

The film follows a trucker named Jack Burton and his friend Wang Chi as they battle supernatural forces to rescue two women from a powerful sorcerer. The film, at first glance, seemed like an average action-adventure story. But as the story continued, it began to dabble into various other genres that showed just how layered the film was when it was released. While it wasn't a runaway success like Carpenter's other films, Big Trouble in Little China gained a cult following that has helped keep the movie alive decades later.

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Big Trouble In Little China

At first, Big Trouble in Little China explored action/adventure with Jack Burton and Wang Chi, bringing their similar yet different skills to the forefront to juxtapose how different they were but united in saving those in need. In fact, both heroes were very similar to Indiana Jones in that they had to travel to an ancient location with nothing but their wits and firepower to outsmart supernatural creatures, martial arts masters and evil sorcery. That said, the action found in the film was only the start of a deeper story.

The creatures in Big Trouble in Little China and the ancient prophecy that pushed the plot forward weren't unlike a classic fantasy story where the hero had to go on a quest to save an individual in need. But what made this unique form a traditional fantasy story was it used Chinese myths and architecture to put a different spin on the genre and offer something new but still fun for audiences. As a result, they were greeted with terrifying monsters and villains that pushed special effects to the limit and remained seared into the minds of the many that saw the film when it was released.

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Lo-Pan from Big Trouble in Little China

Perhaps the most unique genre tackled in Big Trouble in Little China, for the director, was the romance injected into the story. On the one hand, Wang Chi's fiancée, Miao Yin, represented traditional love and how it endured between the two even after she was kidnapped by the evil sorcerer Lo Pan. On the other hand, Jack's love interest, Gracie Law, was more independent and clearly had no need for Jack's macho attitude. Nevertheless, the two realized they needed one another and showed there are more layers to romance than two people blindly in love with one another.

John Carpenter showed with Big Trouble in Little China that he could easily direct traditional stories based on the genres mentioned. However, he could also offer a different perspective at the same time, thanks to Jack and Wang's perspectives on the narrative. But for the larger audience, the film showed that Carpenter could be handed any project or genre and create something special with it if given a chance. While he may be hailed as a master of horror, it's not his only skill because Carpenter could make anything he set out to do.